News and Opinions on Professional Wrestling

The Roman Reigns We Have All Been Waiting for has Arrived

This past Sunday, Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman to win the Elimination Chamber and become the Number One Contender for Brock Lesnar’s WWE Universal Championship. To be honest, I wasn’t happy with the outcome. I wanted Braun to win.

Strowman has been on fire as of late and was supremely dominant in the Chamber, eliminating a record 5 participants. He should be the #1 contender to dethrone Lesnar. I was feeling what a lot of wrestling fans have been feeling for a long time – Reigns being shoved down our throats. I was getting Roman fatigue. That was Sunday night. Then Monday arrived.

At the beginning of the show, they hyped the showdown between Reigns and Lesnar (with Paul Heyman, of course). I thought this could be another Paul Heyman epic promo, putting over both Reigns and his client, BROCK LESNAR! But, when the picture showed on the screen before the showdown, it was just Reigns.

I was a little confused at first, but was like, “Ok. Let’s see what happens.” Roman makes his way to the ring. Ok, cool. He’s going to start things off, talking about his big win before Lesnar and Heyman come out. But Roman started talking to himself and looking to the back. Then, he revealed the truth (or the truth WWE wants you to believe) about Lesnar and Heyman’s whereabouts. This is when the Roman Reigns we have been waiting for arrived.

We saw some of this side of Roman during his feud with John Cena. When Roman was free to speak his mind and not follow a script, we got to see the “real” Roman Reigns. He was blunt and straight to the point. He laid out the case against Brock Lesnar, one that a lot of wrestlers in the back and fans around the world have thought or said about the Universal Champion – he’s never around.

He comes and goes as he pleases and the boys and girls in the back are tired of it. We saw some of this when Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss cut her promo before Elimination Chamber.

The anger and fire Roman had in his promo was great. When the shackles are off of Reigns, he can cut a promo. His wrestling ability has improved tremendously over the years. He has put on great matches, even though fans want to criticize him. I’ve been guilty of it at times, but here’s the thing – Roman IS the guy.

He is the new face of the WWE, and his ascent to the top of the WWE will culminate with his impending victory at WrestleMania 34 in the New Orleans Superdome.

Whether you like him or not, Roman Reigns has earned the respect of this writer. Yes, he may be the new John Cena in some way, but he is his own man. He took a different path than Cena to earn his spot. From various reports, it seems Roman has taken a leadership role behind the scenes similar to how The Undertaker, Cena, Austin, and The Rock were in the past.

Look what he did to Enzo by kicking him off of the tour bus overseas and out of the locker room. Reigns has the respect of the sports entertainers backstage. It’s time we give him the respect he is due. With Reigns’ promo, I’m excited to see how his match against Brock Lesnar turns out in New Orleans.